In a couple months I am planning to apply to fall quarter for next year, and I was wondering if anyone could answer my questions.
First off, I’m slightly confused on the prompt for transfer applicants. It says to write a narrative, but then goes on to list things that are required. I’m wondering if anyone has any essays that they successfully were accepted with, or could enlighten me on how they want the personal statement done.
Now my next question would be pertaining to my GPA and the competitiveness of acceptance into the school, as well as my intended major. My GPA currently lies at 3.15, and by the time I complete my two years, my GPA should be in the range from about a 3.2 to a 3.4. I plan to enroll as an Electrical Engineering student, and I will have met all the prerequisites for the major. I would like, as I see some others have called it, a “chance” of me getting in based on this, and information from the next question.
I am unsure if putting some of these things into my personal statement would help me or hinder me, and would like some input on whether or not I should include them.
- I have Asperger's Syndrome as well as social anxiety.
I don't know if including either of these would necessarily help me, but I feel as though these are very big obstacles in my life, and might help make up for my lack of extra curricular activities or lower than average grades.
- I am transgender and intend to transition if I can attend UW.
At the end of the prompt it asks if there are any personal reasons you have to attend, and I feel this might fit into that. The Seattle area has a lot of access to trans-healthcare so if i'm able to attend UW I plan to transition. This might show some importance in going to UW?
- [Plan to include (part of the career goals section), but am wondering if this helps my chances.] After my bachelor's I intend to pursue a PhD.
I think this might help because it shows I have a clear goal and dedication to education, and shows the importance of me attending a research university like UW (from my understanding the UW is also pretty big in what I want to go into, which is neuroscience related).
- They have classes on synthetic biology and participate in the iGEM competition, which is something that I'm extremely interested in. This might correlate to the last part of the prompt where it asks for any other education/personal reasons one would have to attend.
(Also I am an in-state student.)
I can’t provide my essay, but I can describe to you how I structured it. From what I recall of last Fall’s prompt (and from your description it’s probably the same as this Fall’s), what needs to be included is:
- An overview of extracurriculars
- A tie into "culture"
- Intended major, progress towards, performance, etc.
- Optional personal hardship references
These are all tacklable subjects separately, but the problem lies in an eloquently strewing them together in a paper under 700 words. Therefore, although you have a lot of good material to include, you should make sure you can actually produce something remotely cohesive. Now how I went about it:
- I centralized my essay on my first job as a pizza delivery driver.
- Wrote how in American culture first jobs aren't usually acquired during your college sophomore year. Throughout the essay, I provided reasons to why doing so ultimately benefited me.
- To make the essay personal, I referenced how I was a "late bloomer" growing up, which I used to explain my job situation and why I needed to attend community college before university.
- Once I mentioned community college, more-or-less snuck in mentions of major (Math) and progress towards.
The main thing is getting everything to relate with each other while still producing something entertaining for the individuals paid to read them by the hundred. For my essay, delivering pizza was my interesting and relatable topic, and I didn’t mention the culture of [Insert race/ethnicity here] like most people did. For your essay, you could write on the stigma in American culture surrounding transgender individuals, which I imagine would tie in well to whatever else you write.
As for chances though, keep in mind that the UW will only use the grades you recieved up till your last completed quarter to assess whether to offer you admission. Applying for Fall 2015, they only recieved my transcript with grades completed up till Fall quarter 2014. The average GPA of accepted students is considered to be around a 3.5, but since you’re an in-state community college student who will have around 90 credits completed by the time you wish to enter, you’ll still have a good shot. Just keep in mind that if you’re not accepted, there’s always Winter applications, which would allow you to show your full transcript.
Hey, fellow applicant here (applied for winter 2016). I struggled a lot with the app essay too! They give you a lot to write about in terms of your academic history and goals, but also instruct you to have a “desire to tell your story”. I ended up breaking my essay into essentially two halves: one with my “story”, anecdotally-driven, with more of a creative writing spin. The other half was more dry, talking about my desired major, preparation for my major, my goals, etc.
No one here can tell you for sure what essay topics will work and which won’t. What helped me the most was just to start writing and get all my ideas out. I found that I actually enjoyed having the opportunity to write about my goals and whatnot after awhile!
Also about EE major: there is a LOT out there on the internet about getting into UW engineering programs. Not sure if I’m allowed to link to certain websites, but try looking online for UW forums/communities with current students. 
I am a current transfer student currently in my first quarter of the UW. The most important aspect is telling your story and how the UW fits. Use aspects of your life to explain why you want to pursue your intended major. I did include my plans for graduate school in my essay. Also talk about your obstacles but dont spend too much time on focusing on them.